


A Study In Red

by JoyHale



Series: colours of your heart [1]
Category: HIStory3 - 圈套 | HIStory3: Trapped
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping, M/M, Post-Canon, Sorry Not Sorry, some fluff a little bit if you squint your eyes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:15:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23516773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoyHale/pseuds/JoyHale
Summary: It has been a year since Tang Yi has almost killed the love of his life.A lot has happened in the year. Tang Yi has spent his time behind the bars as the law requiered, and his business was completely legal by now. They were finally settling down to live a normal life, all of them, and Tang Yi has been trying to gather the courage to give Shao Fei the little jewelry box hidden deep in his closet.But then one day, Shao Fei and Zhao Zi disappear. And Tang Yi and Jack will do everything it takes to get them back.
Relationships: Jack | Fang Liang Dian/Zhao Li An | Zhao Zi, Meng Shao Fei/Tang Yi
Series: colours of your heart [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1692127
Comments: 17
Kudos: 332





	A Study In Red

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So I finished this drama yesterday and I can't get over how GOOD it is, so I wrote this! I'm sorry, I was in an angsty mood, so it's a fairly angsty fic, heh. However, there is more fluff to come your way, so stick through it I guess? ALSO, stay safe and sane during the quarantine guys - I know it's been fucking with my mental health quite a lot, so strick through it everyone!! Sending love your way. 
> 
> Enjoy this piece!

It has been a year since that fateful day Tang Yi has shot Meng Shao Fei. 

Tang Yi is sure Shao Fei doesn’t remember that it’s today, he put it behind him a long time ago; right after it happened actually. He believed it was a necessary evil, to make Tang Yi not kill anyone, to make him realize how horrible a crime that is, to take somebody’s life. And boy, did it work. Maybe a tad too well. 

Because Tang Yi can still feel the crushing weight on his heart, the despair he felt when Meng Shao Fei fell unconscious in his arms. And the absolute terror when he entered his hospital room after being reassured he was fine, only to find the heart monitor beeping furiously and Shao Fei’s heartbeat a straight line. The immense relief moments later was overwhelming and he struggled between smacking Shao Fei and kissing him senseless. Of course, he opted for the second one. 

But the whole incident wouldn’t leave his mind, even after Shao Fei expressed so many times that he absolutely didn’t blame Tang Yi like he feared he would. And when he was sitting his time behind the bars, it gave him a lot of time to think, and for bad memories to come crawling back, not allowing him to sleep. After a while, Tang Yi couldn’t even touch a knife in the prison kanteen without having to resist the urge to throw up, because he would feel blood on his hands and hear the deafening _bang_ of the gun that fired at Shao Fei in his ears. 

By the time he got out three months ago, he was going crazy in his small, empty, dark cell full of ghosts. 

So it’s safe to say that when Tang Yi exited the hellhole of a building and saw Shao Fei waiting for him, goofy smile and still the same jacket, which proved that he hadn’t been shopping in seven months, and that one piece of hair sticking out as always, it broke something in him; and despite his best efforts, he became the clingiest person he knew. (Which embarrassed him to no end, but he gave up on fighting it a long time ago.)

He all but ran up to him and squeezed him in a hug so fierce Shao Fei’s feet lifted off the ground, and let go only when Shao Fei squeaked in his ear “Ah Yi, you’re cracking my ribs!”

And since then, he hasn’t been able to go a full hour without touching his boyfriend in any way, even just a tap on the shoulder; to reassure himself he was truly there. That Tang Yi hasn’t murdered him, or that he wasn’t still in his dark, shadowy cell in prison and this wasn’t just a hallucination of his tired mind. 

  
  


_So it has been exactly a year_ , Tang Yi ponders, as he stares at his phone, before putting it down and rolling over to Shao Fei; Tang Yi is always up a good hour or two before him, because that guy could sleep through an apocalypse and wouldn’t know it. _Exactly a year since I almost killed him_. Tang Yi runs his fingers gently over the spot where the bullet entered his boyfriend’s body, the scar making his stomach lurch. 

He lies his head on Shao Fei’s shoulder and considers taking the day off. Since they became completely legal, Hong Ye has been dealing with all of their business, her fiance always at her side ready to help with anything; when Tang Yi came back, he took over a small part of it to ease back into working. However Hong Ye really seemed in her element as the boss lady, and Tang Yi began to wonder if maybe he could create his own path; maybe leave it all to her and… he could do _anything_. He could open a restaurant. But as of right now, he is still in the business; he has been too afraid to start planning his future, still waiting if something was going to fuck up and ruin it for him, and he hates getting his hopes up. 

Right now he is glad though, that he has such a small part to handle; they can survive a day without him. He looks up at his boyfriend’s sleeping face, gaze soft, and thinks that maybe they could spend the day together today. And maybe- maybe he’ll finally work up his courage today. 

But for now, he cuddles closer and sighs contently, splaying his right hand over Shao Fei’s heart. 

“What do you say, that we spend today in bed?” Tang Yi murmurs into Shao Fei’s hair once the other finally wakes up and they exchange their good mornings and some morning kisses. 

He feels Shao Fei’s body shake with a laugh. “I would say that that’s a brilliant idea.” He looks up at him with a smile, but then his expression turns sour. “But I have to go to work today, we’re questioning the suspects for the Kang case and since it’s under me I have to be there.” He chuckles when he sees Tang Yi’s long face. “But I’ll be off at three, then we can go have something to eat? I’ll even let you pick the place.”

“I always pick the place.”

“Because I let you. See, we’re such a great team. Alright, see you at three, gotta run!” Shao Fei presses a quick kiss in the corner of Tang Yi’s mouth and runs off to shower. 

  
  
  


Tang Yi picks their usual place because he knows Shao Fei likes the spicy gnocchi there. He has Jack drive him there, spending the entire car ride nervously fidgeting and thumbing the jewelry box hidden deep in his pocket. He sees Jack eyeing him through the reflexion mirror and by his knowing smirk, he is sure all his emotions are perfectly displayed on his face, so the rest of the ride he tries to school it down so he doesn’t give it away the moment Shao Fei looks at him. 

Jack pulls over and props his legs on the dashboard, pushing his seat back and taking out a manga that Tang Yi is sure Zhao Zi gave him by the pink cover and bunnies peeking out from behind the letters. He chuckles and enters the restaurant; he is really happy that Jack came back to work for the legal business, because legit or not, it’s always good to have someone he can trust. He wasn’t sure at first if Jack can be that person again, but seeing his puppy-like devotion to Zhao Zi Tang Yi knows that the only thing Jack is planning is settling down. 

  
  


To the first twenty minutes Tang Yi doesn’t even pay any attention, because he knows that interrogations can prolong, and Shao Fei has been late more times than he has been on time, fussing about how he isn’t paid enough for all those after-hours. He checks his phone after thirty-five minutes, but the last text in their chat is from him telling Shao Fei at which restaurant to meet him. He thumbs the box in his pocket with rising anxiety.

  
  


An hour into the wait, a waitress comes to ask if he is ready to order. They know not to bother him here, Tang Yi is a regular customer who pays good, so if he wants to sit by himself for hours only sipping water then he absolutely can, but he must be looking really anxious. He says he is waiting for somebody and the waitress bows out. 

He checks his phone again, and then dials Shao Fei’s number. It goes into the voicemail straight away, which doesn’t bother him that much since Shao Fei turns his phone off during questionings. Tang Yi scoffs and leans back in his chair. This is what he gets from dating a cop. 

An hour and a half and a ton of obvious _looks_ from the staff Tang Yi’s phone chimes with a text. _Finally_ , he thinks, but when he grabs it, he sees it’s from Jack. 

_J: Boss, didn’t you text Meng Shao Fei the wrong address? Just asking._

Something akeen of worry finally rises in Tang Yi. He bites his lip and replies. 

_T: No. Why are you asking?_

_J: Zhao Zi just called, said that they wrapped up the questioning a while ago, but that he would be late because of some paperwork he has to do._

Something tugs at his stomach. Tang Yi closes the chat and dials Shao Fei. And again. And again. 

He gets up, leaves a generous tip and sprints to his car. 

Because in his line of business, you don’t ignore those feelings that tug at you. 

Ignoring them often costs lives. 

It’s already getting dark when they arrive at home, Tang Yi storms out of the car and into the house and everyone he encounters is luckily smart enough to avoid crossing his path because he is not far from screaming. He keeps trying to call his stupid boyfriend, who keeps not picking up his fucking phone and doesn’t he know how _scared_ that is making Tang Yi?

Because exactly a year ago, he almost killed Shao Fei, and since then, losing him has become his biggest fear in life. He has become clingy, yes, but also developed a crippling fear gripping his insides whenever he thought Shao Fei might be in danger. And fuck, Shao Fei knows this, and he hasn’t pulled a stunt like this since the day he went investigating Tang Y’s past and Tang Yi almost lost his mind worrying and called him sixty nine times, so he knows he wouldn’t keep his phone turned off on purpose. 

When his thirtieth call ends up in the voicemail, he slams it on the table so hard he is surprised it didn’t break. He is pacing like a caged tiger in the living room, biting at his nails anxiously. 

“Boss?” Jack approaches him, he seems wary, and that gives Tang Yi an idea of how he must look like now when even _Jack_ is wary around him. Suddenly Tang Yi stops pacing and points at Jack so abruptly he makes the mercenary flinch back a little. 

“Jack, call your boyfriend!” he demands, aware that he must look and sound crazy. “Ask him if he saw Shao Fei.” Jack nods silently and pulls out his phone, while Tang Yi keeps murmuring to himself, “I’m sure he is still there, maybe he fell asleep somewhere, that would fit him, or he-”

“Hi, An An,” Jack cooes, cutting Tang Yi’s furious monologue short, and Tang Yi would think _disgusting_ , if he didn’t know that he sounds exactly like that when he speaks to Shao Fei. (He knows, because Jack recorded him one time when he was speaking with Shao Fei over the phone and then could laugh his ass off.)

Tang Yi stares out the window, at the quickly darkening sky, as Jack continues cooing at his Zhao Zi “Yeah, I read your text. Yeah, I know. Really? Great!” Tang Yi clears his throat and Jack shoots him a little apologetic, sheepish smile. “But listen An An, I wanted to ask, is Meng Shao Fei still there with you?” 

After a moment of silence Jack shakes his head and Tang Yi’s heart drops. He walks over to Jack, his hands twitching. “Well, I’m asking because he was supposed to meet boss for a meal after the interrogation but never turned up so boss wanted to-” 

Suddenly something sounding close to a muffled scream tores through the speaker, loud enough that even from his distance Tang Yi hears it. Jack’s body goes from relaxed to rigid in seconds. 

“An An?! Zhao Zi?!” Jack yells into the phone, Tang Yi leaning in so he can hear properly. “What-”

Suddenly ragged breathing is heard through the speaker and Jack seems to be ready to topple over with relief, but then someone screams again and another unknown, deep voice says, “Jack, please deliver a message to Tang Yi. Meng Shao Fei says hello.” 

The line goes dead. 

Jack slowly lowers the phone down from his ear and stares at it, dumbstruck. Tang Yi can’t hear anything over the roaring in his ears. 

_Meng Shao Fei says hello._

He starts pacing around. This doesn’t make any sense. They’re not in the business anymore. They’re not doing deals with anyone that would succumb to dealing with things this way. And why take Zhao Zi? Jack is just a soldier, just a pawn. Take Tang Yi’s loved one at least makes a little sense, but why take Jack’s?

He is so wrapped up in his head that he startles and nearly loses his footing when something flies around his face. It’s Jack’s phone; it lands on the carpeted floor with a dull thud. Tang Yi whips his head around, only in time to see a shacking Jack punch a wall so hard he leaves a bloody imprint on the white wallpaper. 

When he turns to look at Tang Yi, a mutual understanding runs through them. They’re in this together; and there’s going to be a lot of blood.   
  


Tang Yi doesn’t close his eyes for a second that night. Just thinking of lying in the big bed all by himself, with Shao Fei’s side cold and empty is making him sick. They stay up, calling over some of his other trusted men and he sends them to check on all the major gangs in the city, even though he has a feeling they will come back empty-handed.

Because this is personal. 

  
  


Tang Yi sits in his office, silent rage surges through him, because he cannot do _anything_ . He has to wait for the call, message, letter, to come and tell him where he has to go. He knows how this works, and has already lived through it once with Hong Ye. But he _hates_ how useless he feels. He has all the means, but he can’t _use_ them. 

Jack looks as terrible as Tang Yi feels. He sits in the chair across from him, his butterfly knife flying from hand to hand, its swishing sound the only thing heard in the dead of the night. Tang Yi feels even worse, because at least his Shao Fei is capable of fighting back when attacked, that gives him a tiny bit of hope, but Zhao Zi - he is an extremely talented acrobat for sure, but fighting isn’t his strength. That boy couldn’t hurt a fly; and Jack seems well aware of his boyfriend’s chances as he sinks into his chair deeper and swings his knife so fast only blurry lines can be seen.

 _Who? Who is it?_ It is clearly someone who holds a grudge against both him and Jack. Maybe some of the brothers who left them when they became legal, who didn’t want a legitimate life and defected to other gangs. 

Tang Yi doesn’t honestly care much, because they are going to die anyway. 

  
  


At two in the morning, Jack stands up and without a word marches out of the office. Tang Yi doesn’t stop him, and only raises an eyebrow when he comes back an hour later, covered from head to toe in weapons, and for sure many more than Tang Yi can see are hidden under his clothes. 

“I want to have options,” Jack says flatly when he returns to sit in his chair, “when I kill them.”

Tang Yi nods. He likes his attitude. But as he eyes the gun that sticks out from behind Jack’s belt, his stomach tightens into knots. Dammit, Shao Fei really ruined him for violence. 

  
  


At seven in the morning, a servant knocks on his door as always and comes bearing a tea set and the morning mail. She yelps when she enters and sees Tang Yi and Jack sitting there, with dozens of weapons between the two of them. 

“Thank you,” Tang Yi nods his head, beckoning her to come closer. She sets the plate on the table, eyes huge. “Could I please ask you for some breakfast for the two of us?” His voice is hoarse. 

“Of course, master,” she bows and leaves the room, shaking her head to herself a little as she goes. Tang Yi always cooks himself unless he has an early business meeting, but right now he can’t think of anything other then how Shao Fei’s face lit up when he suggested a date night yesterday. He grips the little box in his pocket to tightly he is worried for a moment that he broke it.

He reaches over and pours two cups of tea. He hands one over to Jack and he accepts with a quiet thank you. They both stare out the window as they drink it; but not even tea can soothe Tang Yi’s nerves. 

“When we get them out,” Jack suddenly says, “I think I’m going to wrap Zhao Zi in bubble wrap and lock him in our house.” 

Tang Yi’s expression softens. _When_. He clears his throat, sets the teapot aside and takes out the box from his pocket. “When we get them out, I’m going to propose to Shao Fei.” Jack smiles at him tiredly. Tang Yi stares at the box. “And then lock him in our bedroom for eternity.” 

Jack chuckles slightly. “In the bedroom, huh. Wise choice.”

Tang Yi carefully puts the box down. He spent almost as long as he has been out of prison picking out the ring inside. He just hoped Shao Fei would like it; and that he would accept it. 

Right now, he just hopes that Shao Fei is alive so that he will be able to give it to him. 

As they wait for breakfast, Tang Yi sets on conquering the huge pile of mail he gets every morning; at least something to distract him. He skims through the business letters, invitations to numerous events (he only attends the charity ones, so the others he throws out immediately), but when he is about two thirds into the pile, he sees an unmarked white envelope and his heart skips a beat. 

This is the message they are waiting for, he is sure of it. 

He opens it slowly with shaking fingers; Jack notices his distress and leans closer with an interested look. Tang Yi tries to pull himself together and shakes the contents of the envelope out onto the table. 

But it’s not a piece of paper with an address inside. It’s two photos, one lands front up and the other down. Tang Yi stares at the one that is face up and his lips quiver. 

It’s Shao Fei, his Shao Fei. He is tied to a chair, staring into the camera with disgust, a hard look in his eyes. His face is bloodied and bruised, his clothes are torn in front and Tang Yi can see bleeding cuts on his torso, also a big blooming bruise on his stomach. There’s a blade at his throat. 

But his stare - they didn’t break him. 

For the first time since Shao Fei didn’t come home last night, Tang Yi’s eyes burn. He has been too numb up until now to really take it in; but now it’s real, staring up at him. A tear rolls down his cheek before he can stop it, and lands with a splash on the photo. He quickly looks if Jack noticed it, but he is too busy staring at the other picture; he snatches it up and brings it in front of his face. He is silent for a long time, before suddenly the tea mug he is still holding up until now break in his hand, shards raining on the floor. He tears the photo in half and throws in on the floor. Tang Yi respects his wish for him not to see it; he would also be rather if Jack didn’t see what they did to Shao Fei. 

“There is no address,” Tang Yi manages, his throat suddenly closing. “What if they don’t want to negotiate? What if the next envelope that comes will be- will be-” He is losing it, damn, but all he can see is Shao Fei in a hospital bed, his face as white as paper, his heartbeat a straight line. 

Jack stands up abruptly and goes around the table to grab him by the shoulders. He feels something wet soaking his shoulder and flicks his eyes there to see that Jack’s hand is bleeding; the one that crushed the mug. Jack squeezes him and Tang Yi brings himself to look at him. 

“Boss, I need you to focus,” he hears Jack say. “You have to stay with me, okay? For Shao Fei. For me.” 

Tang Yi nods. His head is heavy. 

“I think,” his eyes flicker to the torn pile on the floor, his mouth setting in a straight line, eyes hardening. “I think I recognize the place. I think I know where it is.”

“How?” Tang Yi doesn’t want to get his hopes up. He hates getting his hopes up. It kills him. “Are you sure?” 

Jack looks only mildly offended by that. “Yes, I’m sure. If it was just a hunch, I wouldn’t… tell you,” he opts for, _give you hope_ is what he means. Because Jack is not stupid, and he has done and seen things far worse than Tang Yi can imagine - he was the boss, and Jack used to be the knife after all. So when Tang Yi was only reluctantly questioning whether they wanted to negotiate or not, Jack is certain they didn’t. He knew that during a kidnapping, if the kidnappers don’t ask for something in return, or send an address within the first twelve hours, they usually _don’t_ want to be found. 

This wasn’t a negotiation like Tang Yi was used to - in the “I give you back your sister if you get off my territory” style. This was more in Jack’s previous work style - killing to destroy the other. 

“I’m sure I recognize this facility. I used this place more than once to question people during last year. It’s somebody from our group.” 

Tang Yi finally manages to collect himself enough to nod and stand up. He tightens his tie and with some difficulties he manages to take out his gun from one of the drawers where it sits under piles of documents. He hasn’t touched it in a year and it feels wrong; but for Shao Fei he will shoot whoever he needs to. 

Jack parks a few blocks away. “They will be monitoring the area, and they know your car,” he explains as he turns around in his seat to look at Tang Yi. He has dug out a baseball cap somewhere and puts it on, and with his collar pulled up high it’s successfully covering most of his face. “This stinks of personal revenge, boss. They’ll be at the look out for us. Let me scan the surroundings quickly and come back for you.”

Tran Yi jerks his head up and down and Jack sneaks out of the car. Tang Yi watches him as he unhurriedly strolls away, head down and hands in his pockets carelessly. 

It’s probably only ten minutes until he comes back, but it feels like the longest ten minutes in Tang Yi’s life. He is looking around constantly, searching for Jack or maybe for Shao Fei by some miracle. _What is taking him so long?_ Tang Yi wonders anxiously. Maybe they noticed him and shot him down. He shudders upon the vision in his head. 

His phone chimes with a text. He frantically searches for it, but his hands are shaking so much it takes him three times to put in the password correctly. 

It’s from a blocked number. Tang Yi’s breath gets stuck in his throat when he sees it’s a video. 

Clicking on the play button is one of the scariest things he has done in his life. 

The video shows a dark room, with two chairs in the middle and two people tied to them, both gagged and not. _Moving_. 

He immediately recognizes Shao Fei in the bigger one, the other being Zhao Zi for sure. For the first few seconds nothing is happening - then suddenly a two buckets of water are dumped on both of the men, making them startle and sputter in their gags. Tang Yi’s hand holding the phone shakes so much he has to lie it down on his lap. 

“Say hi to Tang Yi and Jack, bitches!” someone barks, but both of them keep their heads down, only breathing heavily. The video cuts when a dark figure with a knife approaches the scene, yelling “Not gonna cooperate huh?”

It’s only eight seconds long, yet it was the worst eight seconds in his life. 

Tang Yi has to resist the urge to throw up. 

  
  


When someone knocks on his window, Tang Yi nearly jumps out of his skin. When he sees it’s only Jack, he visibly relaxes and hurries to get out of the car. 

“So?” he asks impatiently.

“They must be bigger amateurs than I thought. No one is patrolling around and they don’t even anyone at the door. Maybe there is really just the two of them - the bastard with the knife and the other taking the pictures.” His jaw tightens and Tang Yi’s mind flashes to the photo of Shao Fei for a second, and to the torn pieces of the one of Zhao Zi. 

“Then let’s go.” Tang Yi sets the pace and Jack strolls behind him, his face still hidden behind the masking; Tang Yi suspects Jack doesn’t want him seeing him vulnerable. He scoffs a little at the thought - he has known for a long time Jack is actually a cinnamon roll deep down.

But a scary one, that’s for sure. 

They houses around them turn into warehouses quickly. Jack takes the lead as he is the one who knows where they are headed. The neighborhood they enter is dirty and most of the warehouses is closed, with broken windows and rusty pipes sticking out. 

Jack stops in his tracks suddenly, and tugs Tang Yi harshly behind a corner. “Someone just entered the facility,” he informs him in a low voice. “Let’s wait a moment.”

After what feels like an eternity - Tang Yi is _so close_ and he has to stand still, it’s killing him - Jack peeks out and gives him the all clear. Tang Yi pulls his gun out, its weight heavy and final in his palm. A memory of Shao Fei flashes through his mind. _Yes, I wanted to stop you from killing people. Because I don’t want you to become a weapon._ Shao Fei, who took a bullet Tang Yi fired. His hand trembles as he grips the gun tighter.

Jack looks at him, jerking his head in the direction of a door on their left. This particular warehouse is as dirty and unkept as the others, but apparently it’s one of the many, many hideouts and safe houses his group owns. Obviously they are not used in that way anymore, but some brothers apparently failed to expect that. 

Tang Yi seeks out Jack’s gaze and nods. Jack nods in response; Tang Yi hears him take a deep breath and then he kicks the door out. 

  
  


They pour inside like a crushing wave. Someone shouts once, but he is dead before he can manage more. Tang Yi involuntarily winces at the _bang_ . As they collapse to the ground, Jack loads the gun without sparing them another look and Tang Yi feels sick to his stomach. The hand holding his gun is sweating and making it difficult to aim. God, how _weak_ has he become?

They quickly search the room, but no one else seems to be here, only boxes and more boxes. 

“Didn’t you say that they are here?!” Tang Yi shouts at Jack angrily and kicks a box in front of him. 

“They are!” Jack shouts back and frowns at him. “There is a corridor over there leading to-” he halts in the middle of the sentence though, and Tang Yi can see his eyes going wide before he lurches forward and _jumps_ at Tang Yi, toppling him to the ground. 

“What are you _doing_?” he hisses at him, but then he hears a bullet swishing and the sound of breaking glass behind them; there, where Tang Yi was standing. More bullets rain on them as Jack drags Tang Yi behind a stack of boxes. “Sorry,” Tang Yi murmurs; Jack only scoffs and rolls over, ready to fire, but the attacker is already gone. They hear his footsteps hurrying away, through the corridor Jack mentioned. 

“They know about us now,” Jack ponders. “They’ll be prepared at the end of the corridor and that’s a death trap, there’s nowhere to hide.” He turns to Tang Yi with a slightly insane grin. “But they don’t know I know this place like the back of my hand. Let’s go surprise those sons of bitches.” 

They sneak out through the broken window and crawl around the building to the back. “Somewhere here, somewhere... “ Jack is mumbling to himself. 

“I thought you said you’ve been here only a couple of times,” Tang Yi scoffs, trying to shake off the feeling of uselessness that’s settled on him. They were being _fired at_ , and the only thing he managed to do was freeze. If Jack didn’t drag him away, he wouldn’t be able to move. He’s _pathetic_. 

“... A couple dozen times?” Jack answered and shrugged. “We all did things in our past we’re not proud of.”

“True.” _Certainly true_. 

“Aha!” Jack grins and rubs his hands in delight. “Here, quickly, come.” He points to a small cellar window. Tang Yi wants to point out there is no chance someone their size is going to fit through there, but before he can blink Jack is already on the other side of it. “C’mon boss, don’t be a princess!” 

  
  


The cellar is dirty, dark and wet. They quickly rush to the staircase whose outline Tang Yi can barely make out in the near darkness. Their footsteps echo around and Tang Yi is sure the kidnappers heard them and will turn up any second, but they never do. 

_Wait for me, I’m almost there. Wait for me._

They’re nearly at the stairs when a scream rips through the building, and the screaming goes on and on; until a gunshot stops it. The silence is so loud Tang Yi can’t process anything else.

Tang Yi can’t breathe. He whips his head to stare at Jack, and he finds the reflection of the horrified expression he is wearing. For the tiniest moment he catches himself thinking _please let it be the other one_ , and he feels so terrible about it, but he knows Jack is thinking the same. 

Tang Yi’s hand holding the gun finally stills; it’s not shaking anymore, it’s steady and he readies his finger on the trigger. Jack jerks his head a little, and they run up the stairs as one man. 

Jack seems to be done with being discreet as he kicks the door on top of the stairs open again. They enter yet another storage room, and Tang Yi feels as if someone kicked him in the stomach as he sees the two chairs in the middle of the room, bloodied ropes hanging off of them - the two empty chairs. 

And someone in the corner of the room, previously hidden by shadows, starts clapping. 

  
  


“I have to say, I love the dramatic entrance,” Li Zhi De laughs at them as he steps out of the shadows, smirking and clapping and positively very much not dead. “Really, that gives dimension to this, don’t you think?”

“You’re supposed to be dead!” Tang Yi manages, bewildered. “How-”

“Ah boss,” Li Zhi De mocks him condescendingly, making Tang Yi’s blood boil. “Faking my own death was the easiest part of this plan, believe me. It’s surprisingly easy when you have friends on the inside. I’m so happy you found me here! You fucked up my plans a little bit but well, change is life am I right?”

Tang Yi still can’t believe his eyes, but he doesn’t care how Li Zhi De escaped from the police, he really couldn’t give less fucks. “Where are they?” he barks out, pointing his gun at him. ”What did you do with them?”

Li Zhi De ignores his questions like he didn’t say anything and strolls closer, looking alarmingly _not_ alarmed for someone who has a gun _and_ a knife pointed at him. “We could’ve been happy together, Tang Yi,” he says instead. “We could’ve been _together_. If that fucking Meng Shao Fei didn’t mess with your head, and if _you,_ ” he jerks his head in Jack’s direction, “didn’t _sabotage_ me all the time and didn’t make boss like you better-”

“What?” Jack scoffs. 

“-it wouldn’t have come to this,” Li Zhi De finishes, eyes blazing. “But we all made our choice, didn’t we?”

“ _Where are they_ , you lunatic?” Tang Yi screams at him. Li Zhi De only shakes his head, as if in disappointment.

“Don’t worry, your Officer Meng is still kicking and breathing. _For now_ , “ he stresses, and Tang Yi wants to haul forward and claw his eyes out. To beat that fucking smirk off of his face. “As for the other little policeman…” he draws out, clearly enjoying the way Jack tenses and tightens the hold on his knife. “I can’t say the same.”

“You motherfucker!” Jack screams and lurches forward, but suddenly stops halfway to Li Zhi De and collapses to the floor like someone cut his strings. 

“Jack! What-” Tang Yi hurries to him, and sees something stuck in his neck. He looks closer; it’s a tranquilizer dart. 

“Don’t worry,” Li Zhi De drawls out lazily, “he’s only paralysed. Might sleep for a couple of hours, depending on how fit he is. We didn’t have the time to measure the darts for you personally.” He says it as though he’s _apologising_ for it. 

_We._ Someone else took down Jack. Tang Yi quickly looks up, and sees a figure nested in the roof beams far above them. _Fuck_. He slowly stands up, but not before checking Jack’s pulse first - normal, if maybe a little slow. 

Li Zhi De waves his hand in Jack’s direction. “Take this trash out, boys,” he calls out and the other doors in the room open, and five men in black suits step out. Tang Yi quickly scans them, but he doesn’t recognize them; they’re not from his group. That’s at least something - that more of his people didn’t betray him. 

It was a trap. _They must be bigger amateurs than I thought. No one is patrolling around and they don’t even anyone at the door._ They made Jack think that, and the single man in the front room was just another bait that they swallowed; and Tang Yi cannot even blame Jack, because who could have predicted this?

Four of them come to haul Jack up; the remaining one positions himself in a corner opposite from Tang Yi and aims his gun calmly at him. Tang Yi watches helplessly as they lift up Jack’s limp body and carry him away. His head lolls to the side and Tang Yi sees his eyes are wide open; the only sign he can give him right now. So the dose they mixed must be too weak for Jack; Tang Yi hopes it wears out soon so he’ll be able to fight them. 

Li Zhi De gestures to the chairs in the middle once they're gone with a wolfish smile that gives Tang Yi the chills. 

“Shall we talk now?” 

  
  


Jack groans internally as he is dropped unceremoniously on the ground, because as none of his muscles are working right now he has to scream his curses on the inside. _Wait until I get my hands on you, you motherfuckers-_

They grope him and take most of his weapons, dividing them between the four of them, but he knows how to hide his knives so he is left with at least three of them. _Stupid fucks._

 _  
_He still can’t move. His only hope is that Li Zhi De is in love with Tang Yi too much to actually harm him badly.

They are snickering and laughing at something, but Jack can’t hear them through the roaring in his ears. _As for the other little policeman…I can’t say the same._ He feels tears in his eyes and can’t wipe them off because he can’t _move,_ fuck it! Li Zhi De has to be bluffing… he has to bluffing… but they both heard the screaming and the abrupt stop after the gunshot. More tears fill up his eyes at the thought of his naive, too-good-for-the-world boyfriend. He didn’t deserve this; just because he was associated with Jack, and Li Zhi De was a crazy lunatic who was under the impression Jack was trying to take his position a year ago, when he was only trying to do his job. 

One of Li Zhi De’s men leans down to say something to him. Jack can make out some of it - “better dead than alive,” and “didn’t put up much of a fight, tough guy,” and then something else is said but his blood is pounding too loud in his ears for him to hear it. Wait, so they think he is dead? It’s true that there was only Tang Yi in the room when Li Zhi De said Jack is only paralysed. They don’t know what’s in the dart in his neck. 

Jack smirks internally. Finally something he can use for his advantage. Great! And those dumbasses, they even left him some knives. He just has to lie still long enough until whatever fucking drug is in his system wears out, and then he can kill them, and boy will he _enjoy_ killing them, and then… he will find An An. 

They finally leave the small dark room, with one parting kick to the stomach. Jack’s face is pressed into the concrete floor and he can already feel a bruise forming on his cheek from how they dropped him. 

He suspects the drug is not very powerful, because he is slowly starting to feel his limbs and be able to move. It’s probably one of those darts that one can buy at the black market, alongside date rape drugs, and the doses are meant for girls; so something that keeps them knocked out for hours only makes someone Jack’s build immobile for half an hour. 

He has already dragged himself up on all fours, his vision swimming in front of him. He is sweating like crazy from the all the effort it takes, when he hears footsteps approaching, and he throws himself on the floor just before the door bagns open. 

Dammit, all that effort for nothing, Jack curses silently; but maybe it wasn’t for nothing because as the door opens, he hears a high-pitched voice wail, “Where are you taking me, let me go! Where are you taking A-Fei? A-Fei! Who is that? Did you kill someone else?” and Jack has never been more relieved to hear his boyfriend’s pouting than right now. _I knew you were bluffing, you piece of shit._ And he is double relieved that Shao Fei is also alright, because he is not sure Tang Yi would be able to survive that. 

“You talk too fucking much,” the guard grumbles, and a smack and a small whimper follow short - Zhao Zi has just been slapped and Jack has never wanted to murder anyone more in his life than these men. 

“W-wait till Jack and Tang Yi find you-you evil… bastards!” At any other moment Jack would coo over how cute Zhao Zi is when he curses, but right now his heart falters when he realizes what’s about to happen, and that he can’t stop it unless he wants a bullet in the head. 

The twisted delight is practically radiating off of the guard, Jack can feel it all the way over where he is slumped on the ground, as he drawls, “Oh, but they already found us, sweetheart. Well rather, we found _them,”_ he chuckles and Zhao Zi yelps, as he is probably shoved inside the room, a thud as he lands on the ground confirming it. “In fact, your precious Jack is right here with you!”

He can feel the moment when Zhao Zi looks at him and his skin crawls; he has to use every ounce of his willpower not do move, not to gather him up in his arms and not let anyone harm him ever again. 

“You’re lying!” Zhao Zi accuses the guard in a quivering voice. 

“Check for yourself then! He’s not as tough as he thinks he is,” the guard laughs cruelly, no real joy in the sound making it sound crooked and twisted. Zhao Zi shuffles over and Jack can tell the moment he recognizes him when his breath hitches. 

_“Jack!”_

Jack hates them. He hates them, he _hates them,_ he is going to kill them all. 

“Happy reunion!” The guard mocks them one last time and closes the door with a loud bang and soon his footsteps disappear. 

Zhao Zi lets out a broken wail and throws himself at Jack, sobbing into his shirt. “Wake up, wake up please,” he keeps murmuring and Jack struggles to raise his hand as his heart breaks; he doesn’t trust his voice enough to speak yet. 

Zhao Zi jumps when Jack finally manages to cup his head and looks up at his face. Jack tries to smile and hopes it doesn’t look like a grimace of pain too much. “Only,” he croaks out and his voice sounds like a blade dragging across rocks, “paralysed.”

“Oh my god,” Zhao Zi lets out a huge breath and cups Jack’s face. “Oh my god you stupid, you scared me so much!” Jack studies his face, his vision slowly turning red; Zhao Zi’s face looks like someone painted it red and purple. It’s much worse in person up close than at the photo. 

“I scared… you… so much?” Jack manages to say, slowly trying to sit up. Zhao Zi hurries to help him. “I couldn’t… I thought you were dead… he said… and I heard a gunshot.” Jack’s muscles are still not working properly as well as his vocal chords, but Zhao Zi seems to understand him.

“They shot A-Fei in the leg,” Zhao Zi murmurs, gripping his shoulder as if he’s worried Jack will jump up and hurry to help their friends, when he even can’t sit up by himself. “We were trying to escape.” 

“Of course you were,” Jack chuckles humourlessly. He brings his hand to Zhao Zi’s face with some difficulties, lightly tracing the bruises with his fingertips. “Does it hurt a lot?”

“It does,” Zhao Zi admits with his usual honesty. “But it’s only my face, everything else is good mostly; it could’ve been much much worse.” He wiggles his arms in demonstration. 

Jack can only nod and try not to picture the _much much worse_ variant. 

“Alright, help me up and walk this drug out. And then you get to show off that acrobatic stuff of yours. 'Cause we have to go help Tang Yi and Shao Fei. You wouldn’t believe what mess Tang Yi has gotten himself into again.”

Zhao Zi looks around them pointedly. “I think I would, Jack.”

  
  
  


Tang Yi sits in the chair, his own gun pointed at his head, and tries very hard to ignore the bloodied ropes digging into his back. He has his hands in his lap, in fists so he resists the urge to beat the living shit out of Li Zhi De, who is sitting across from him, smiling like nothing of this is happening. 

“Where are they?” he demands for the umpteenth time. 

“C’mon Tang Yi, shouldn’t we enjoy the time we have together, without worrying about others?” 

“Where are Shao Fei and Zhao Zi? Where did you take Jack?”

Finally Li Zhi De seems to snap and the pleasant smile falls right off his face, replaced by a sneer. He leans forward and grabs Tang Yi’s chin roughly. “You just won’t stop, won’t you?” He pulls away with a huff. “I already told you that the little whiny cop wannabe is done for. And precious Jack is being taken care of right now. As for Meng Shao Fei…” his expression turns from disgust to mischief. “Shall we go see for ourselves?”

  
  


Tang Yi feels the gun digging into the back of his skull as he follows Li Zhi De up the stairs. They reach the upper floor, and it’s a gallery overlooking most of the facility. It’s from here that the sniper must’ve gotten access to under the roof. 

Li Zhi De leads him forward until suddenly gestures for the guard to stop and Tang Yi has to as well. “Don’t make any noise,” he warns him, and gestures for him to step back into the shadows, the gun barrel pressed tightly against his head. “If you say one word, I’ll put a bullet through his head.”

For the first time, Tang Yi focuses on what’s happening below him. He sees a hunched figure on the floor, and when Li Zhi De calls out, “Meng Shao Fei!” and he looks up tiredly, though eyes unfocused, Tang Yi feels like someone punched him. 

“What do you want, asshole?” Shao Fei call back, voice hoarse - like he has been screaming. Tang Yi eyes the gun in Li Zhi De’s hand and supposes it’s not worth the risk to believe he is bluffing. “Won’t you at least let a man bleed out in peace?” 

Tang Yi’s eyes widen as he notices the dark puddle under Shao Fei’s body. _The gunshot_. 

“That wouldn’t be fun, would it?” Li Zhi De laughs. 

Shao Fei doesn’t respond, and Li Zhi De frowns at him for not playing along. “What did you do to A-Zi?” he wheezes. 

“What he deserves,” Li Zhi De snaps, “same as Jack.”

Shao Fei seems to become more alert now. “What’s with Jack?”

“Ah, came here looking for his stupid boyfriend, and my boy over there had to use one of those nifty little darts, you know which ones right?” Shao Fei’s hand goes up to his neck and Tang Yi sees red. “Only with around triple the drug. He’s sleeping soundly now.”

“You-” Shao Fei gets caught in a cough fit and his breath is wheezing horribly by the time it goes away. Tang Yi wouldn’t be surprised if his wounds got infected again in this filthy place and he caught some disease. “Wait til Tang Yi finds you.”

“Ah, I’m waiting for that too!” Li Zhi De laughs again. “I texted him the address last night, but it seems he is not interested in turning up. And since I didn’t send it to Jack and he still came, Tang Yi probably showed it to him but doesn’t care enough for himself to come.”

Tang Yi wants to strangle him, what’s-

“You’re lying.” Shao Fei’s voice carries around and makes Li Zhi De shut up. 

“Sure, tell yourself that,” he chuckles, but he is caught off guard. 

“You’re lying,” Shao Fei’s voice is so firm when he says it it nearly brings Tang Yi to tears. 

“What makes you so certain-” Li Zhi De tries to say, but Shao Fei simply repeats it. “You’re lying. It’s not true. You’re lying.” 

Then his arms give out under him and he slumps over. 

Tang Yi can’t hold it in any longer. He lurches forward and wrestles the gun out of Li Zhi Den’s hands. 

“ _A-fei!”_

But Shao Fei doesn’t look up. 

This can’t be happening. _This can’t be happening_. He has lost too many people in his life; if he loses Shao Fei-

“What did I _say_ -” Li Zhi De erupts into screams but stops when a dart buries itself in his neck. Tang Yi looks behind himself and the guard is also slumped over the railing, another dart sticking out from his shoulder. Tang Yi searches the roof feverently, but looks down when Li Zhi De lands at his feet with a dull thump. 

He hears another thump and whips around, not quite believing his eyes when he sees a grinning Zhao Zi landing on his feet, most likely jumping down from the roof, with a tranquilizer gun in his hand - the same one from before. “Acrobatics are good in certain situations,” he says sheepishly. 

Tang Yi only nods, speechless, and then turns around and runs for the stairs, making sure to step on Li Zhi De’s hand though, hearing a satisfying crunch. He doesn’t wait for Zhao Zi as he sprints through the gallery, practically flies down the stairs, and through the corridor. _Which doors is it? Wich doors?!_

One of the doors flies open. “Tang Yi!” he hears someone shout his name and picks up his pace, nearly toppling over a sluggish Jack in the doorway. “Here, he’s here-” Jack says, but Tang Yi is already falling to his knees beside Shao Fei’s body, afraid to touch him and longing with his entire being to do it. 

“A-fei,” he whispers. He extends a shaking hand. His vision blurs.

But before he can touch his face, Shao Fei’s eyes fly open and he stares up at the shocked expression on Tang Yi’s face. “Took you long enough,” he croaks. 

“Oh my god.” Tang Yi sits back on his heels and presses his hands against his eyes. “ _Oh my god_. I thought you bled out.”

“Playing dead is often the best strategy to _not_ get killed,” Shao Fei whispers and Tang Yi lowers his hands, and seeing that stupid smile on his face at a moment like this, when he is covered in bruises and there’s a bullet wound in his leg, just does it for him. 

He breaks down crying and lowers his head to touch their foreheads. 

“I’m not letting you out of my sight ever again,” he informs Shao Fei between sobs. 

He can feel Shao Fei smile. “I’m counting on it.”

They heard a thud and Tang Yi sees that Zhao Zi jumped down from the gallery. His injuries must be lighter than it seems, because if Tang Yi were to say based on the state of his face, he would say Zhao Zi is half dead. He throws the tranquilizer gun away from him as though it burned him. "All down."

Jack limps over to him and drapes himself over his boyfriend’s smaller frame. “Who is for that I make a quick detour upstairs and finish our old friends off?”

Judging by Zhao Zi’s dark expression, he is actually contemplating it. But Tang Yi looks down on Shao Fei, and his eyes bare a clear message. It’s up to him. 

He sighs and shakes his head at Jack. “We’ll hand them over to the police.” Jack nods his head in acknowledgement, but Tang Yi can see his hand twitching with the urge to strangle somebody.

Tang Yi stands up. “But first, ambulance. I’ll call Jiang right away.”

“Noooo, not _that_ guy,” Shao Fei whines. “He talks _so much_. I’m telling you, one more visit and I’ll die from him talking my head off.”

Tang Yi rolls his eyes fondly, then looks around. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry? But I hope you enjoyed it, and I'm difinitely gonna be back soon with a follow up; because Tang Yi has yet to propose! And I absolutely wanna see him open a restaurant. 
> 
> Any feedback is appreciated!


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